in the book here for us on daily briefing solemn 9/11 thankful that america is stronger than ever. thanks for joining us, everyone. i'm dana perino. here is shep. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast. 3:00 on the east coast. where florence could be one of the most devastating hurricanes in decades according to officials at the national hurricane center. forecasters say the size of the storm, is in their words, staggering. and the damage could spread far beyond the coast. we'll get a look inside the eye of the storm. plus, get live updates from the national hurricane center. and n. a town that they say could take a direct hit. also,. [bell] the victims honoring the heroes. >> and my father, firefighter matthew row rogan gone but never forgotten our hero. >> they bravely charged the

cockpit. they attacked the enemy. they until the very end. >> shepard: 17 years after 9/11. >> breaking news, shepard smith reporting live from the fox news deck. >> shepard: first from the fox news deck hurricane florence is getting even bigger. that's the latest from the forecasters. ordered to get out as the monster category 4 storm surges towards the east coast with the carolinas generally speaking in its crosshairs. folks there haven't faced this kind of a hurricane so large and so powerful according to the hurricane center in many decades. not just the coast line either, far from it. catastrophic flooding and torrential downpours according to the national hurricane center could spread for hundreds of miles. overflowing rivers, flash

flooding in the appalachian mountains are likely, they tell us. here is what it looks like inside the storm these pictures from hurricane hunters who flew straight into the eye of florence after circling its perimeter to gather crucial information that could save so many lives. this is a time lapsed video of their flight. when they reached the center, it's beautiful and sunny as it always is in the eye of the storm. state troopers in south carolina have reversed the flow of traffic on the highway, so that all leans go out. the locals call it contra flow. it's difficult and many times confusing but can be life-saving as it avoids traffic jams so people can get out of the hurricane quickly. even the navy is packing up and leaving. warships and submarines on the coast of virginia heading out to sea to avoid the storm there are some major health hazards in the storm's path, putting water supplies at the -- in the environment at risk.

north carolina has pits of toxic coal ash packed with arsenic, lead and other cancer-causing metals there are also hog farms with large open air lagoons and ponds filled with poisonous waste. there is also six nuclear power plants in the storm's forecast one in brunswick county, north carolina, close to the coast and the forecasters say it could face the full force of this storm. our rick leventhal is live in wrightsville beach, north carolina where some of us go on days like this. as is always the case, it's a beautiful day in the calm before the storm, rick. >> yeah, shepard, it's hot and sunny. we are just steps from the ocean. johnny mercer's fishing pier right there i want to show you 126-unit copped dough under construction just off the beach. i want to show it to you. this is the stuff they are doing now to prepare for the storm. look at that tractor-trailer over there that's the third one fully loaded with lumber

that was sitting here on this lot getting ready to help put these homes together. look over here to your left. you will see the homes under construction. three tractor trailers full of wood that they're hauling out of here because they don't want it blowing around in the wind. anything that's not tied down could very well take off and be a projectile. all that stuff on that back trailer, they are packing up all the extra lumber that's lying around, all the pieces of material that have to be used on these homes, they are packing them up and putting them away. including those chain linked fence pieces that were circling this property. those had to be tied down. anything that could fly, shepard, as you know has to be secured or it will fly. the hotel where we are staying just down the beach, they are taking all the furniture off the ground floor. anything from the waste down they are storing it somewhere because they know if they don't it will wash away or blow away. and that's a big concern here. those high winds and the heavy rains in the storm surge, these units are rated about 130 plus miles per

hour. they will be tested in the next couple of days, shepard. >> shepard: there are evacuation orders, rick. are people leaving? >> well, we have seen people leave but we know a lot of people will stay. wrightsville beach where theweare now they will close the bridge tomorrow night at 8:00. no one else will be allowed on to wrightville beach. whoever decides to stay will be on their own. i talked to locals who say a lot of folks are going to stay if they are in the low lying areas and they know their property is likely to flood i am told they will get out. a lot of people boarding up and riding out. they see it tracking a little bit further north and they want to be there to protect their property and watch over their property once this thing passes through. >> shepard: rick, thanks. we will hear from the mayor of wrightsville beach who is in the path of the hurricane. i will talk to him about what folks there are doing to prepare for the storm. >> that's coming up at the bottom of the hour just minutes away.

let's bring in ken graham now, director of the national hurricane center. ken is live with us. ken, what sort of changes have you seen and what should people expect. >> a close eye on this thing as we are seeing some further organization with the system. we are watching real close into the eye and really starting to see, you know, an expansion. really expansion of some of these winds. more organization. so it really is in line with the forecast being a major hurricane. let me tell you all the ocean right ahead of it not only warm at the surface but even deep labor warmth. so therlabor -- deep layer of warmth. really nothing in the way of the hurricane to the carolinas. >> shepard: we watch the eye of the storm pretty normal. the suggestion after that it would strengthen and what about forward progress. are you expecting it to slow down speed up or what? >> that's been a big topic. after the eye wall replacement further organization. but here's "the big story." look at these distances between these forecast points and look how they get

really close towards the end. i do want to make the point. this right here is 8:00 a.m. friday. this is 8:00 a.m. saturday. this is 8:00 a.m. sunday. really slows down. and when that happens, think about it, have you saturated soil, wind, still a depression over central north carolina. even on sunday. vow trees down. that compounds the issue with the rainfall and very dangerous rainfall and also the storm surge. >> shepard: you always hope there will be high pressure center to steer it away that there will be wind shear to knock the tops off; that something will happen that before it hits land, it will actually diminish in some way and lives will be spared. is there anything you can find to suggest that might happen? >> i will tell you, nobody wishes that more than a meteorologist because we have seen this coming. even since the weekend. we don't see it. we don't see anything in the ocean's deep layer, warm water. nothing in the atmosphere. in fact when you start having high pressure in the wrong locations and starts slowing down the system. really the worse case

scenario coming true. the rainfall rates we keep talking about the impacts here. the rainfall in some case historical very dangerous situation. not just on the coast. but look i object land inland, d north carolina and maryland and delaware. by the way the forecast air, some of this could shift back and forth. if you are on the edge thinking you are okay this can shift. you have to pay attention. definitely historical rainfall and terrain see pretty bad flash flooding. >> shepard: because it feels like a levity wolf is on cnn it's me here on the fox. i get it but it's all good. he probably would have the same question. that is if you are inland say in raleigh, it looks like you are going to get -- if your models are right, a lot of rain is coming. if you are in raleigh or somewhere inland like that, should you be taking extra precautions. >> definitely shep, we will get that right this time. you have to. the rainfall rates we are talking about are going to be the tropical rainfall rates are high. 152020 inches.

some of the bulls eye we are talking 30 inches of rain. that's just dangerous. it's life-threatening and even far away from the coast you can get that with the terrain that could be really dangerous flash flooding. precautions what it is about being prepared. >> shepard: those who rode out hugo was a wind storm chopped off the top of pine trees. all you heard for a month is chain sauce. this you are seeming to suggest is more of a water storm. is that right? or does this pack a one-two? >> probably all of the above. you think about this forecast lingering. saturate the soils. what's that is going to do the wind is going to compound the issue. if you stay in the depression well into the weekend start knocking down trees. we are talking a wind storm. we are talking rain and even have to talk about the storm surge because look at this huge area that we could expect, you know, we have this watch up from the north carolina, virginia border all the way in to south carolina. anywhere in there you get 3-foot or greater of storm surge. in fact, some of the areas we are particularly focusing

on in north carolina, look at the river in sound where this water gets trapped. these rivers normally flow out. with the storm surge that water comes in and where it gets trapped we could be talking 10-foot, 12-foot of storm surge. and that's definitely life-threatening. >> shepard: so if you are my age or so, 50, 60, and you have been living along the coast of north carolina all your life, you have never really seen stuff that beat stuff up so bad that you decided to get out. under a decide to stay today. what's your advice, kiming -- ken, there did it. >> i don't know if we're even i think mine was worse. my advice here don't take your chance. if we are talking about powerful system, a major hurricane, we are talking about measuring rainfall and storm surge in feet in both cases it's a particularly dangerous hurricane. you can't take aens that. look, uncertainty is always there people are following the different models, but the bottom line is we have huge impacts from.

this life threatening situation and listen to the local officials. if they are saying you are in danger, absolutely listen to them and get out. don't take a chance. >> shepard: ken graham, we can't thank you enough. thank you for working for us. talk to you in the next couple of days. >> shepard: locals have said the time has come to go, the time has come to make sure your relatives are safe and that you move on to a place where you can be safe. because if his first alert forecast is right, the next -- s right the next few days are extremely difficult. nobody knows what happens after that. will there be power in a week? will there be power in a month? call puerto rico. we'll have the latest on hurricane florence's path as folks in the carolinas brace for what the national hurricane center center reports could be one of the worst storms there in our lifetimes. a lot of people heading out of town, we hope. those others hunkering down.

but, first, 17 years later, we remember the nearly 3,000 people who died in the deadliest terror attack ever on american soil. it's 9/11 in america. and the news continues after this. ♪ ♪ pressure? you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray relieves 6 symptoms... claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. if you're waiting patiently for a liver transplant, it could cost you your life. it's time to get out of line with upmc. at upmc, living-donor transplants put you first. so you don't die waiting. upmc does more living-donor liver transplants than any other center in the nation. find out more and get out of line today.

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blue morning. 17 years ago and then the terrorists launched a series of attacks on american soil ending 200977 lives that day. and so many more sense in the face of easel first responders and every day americans become heroes some giving their lives to save their fellow citizens. at the world trade center in lower manhattan this morning victims and family members and friends read the names of all those who died on that day in 2001. since then, firefighters, police officers, and other first responders, school children and others continue to die from cancer and other illnesses because of the toxic dust they breathed in at ground zero. ♪ will be in. >> in washington the flag lowered in front of the

pentagon or outside washington where 184 people died when a plane crashed into it vice president pence said during a ceremony today he wanted to pay a debt of honor and remembrance to the victims. ♪ and at a memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania, president trump and the first lady melania paid tribute to the men and women of united flight 93. crew members and passengers as we are told charged the cockpit door to stop the terrorists and the plane crashed into a field, killing all 40 on board. our coverage begins there with our molly line in shanksville. mollie? >> shep, president donald trump and first lady melania trump traveled here to this sacred ground the flight 93 national memorial to honor the brave passengers and crew who rose up against the 9/11 hijackers. >> a band of brave patriots turned the tide on our nation's enemies and joined the immorality ranks of

american heroes. at this memorial on this sacred earth in the field beyond this wall and in the skies above our heads. >> their plane crashed but those 40 people saved unknown number of innocence preventing that plane from hitting intended target believed to be the u.s. capital in washington, d.c. >> shepard: mollie outside washington folks gathered at the pentagon to remember the 184 people owho died there 17 years ago today. >> dana was just 3 years old on board american airlines flight 77 when it crashed into the pentagon at 9:37 a.m. she would be 20 years old today, roughly the same age as thousands of service members across the middle east. this morning, all 184 victims' names were read aloud. the naval academy glee club performed the national

anthem. defense secretary mattis led a task force into afghanistan shortly after to fight the taliban. mattis led the first marine division in 2003 invasion of iraq. >> we remember the beretry and sacrifice of those who fell here in america and then on far-flung battle fields declaring proudly that americans do not scare. and we followed to the end of the earth those who sought to break our spirit. >> even before the smoke cleared, and the fires were put out, americans began to answer the call. step forward to serve this nation. >> a quarter of all americans were born after the 9/11 attacks. the fight continues today. this year, the u.s. military has bombed six different countries, iraq, syria, afghanistan, some i can't, yemen and libya. shep? >> shepard: lucas, in lower manhattan, thousands of victim's relatives, survivors and first responders gathered on this rainy morning where the twin towers once stood that

beautiful blue day. our senior correspondent eric shawn was there that morning and he is there for us again today. hi, eric. >> hello, shep. it was another tortured morning of remembrance and deep emotion here at the world trade center site as the family members, loved ones and officials read the name of all 2753 people killed by radical islamic terrorism here and it was a day filled with emotion. >> daddy 17 years and the fact that you are no longer here still feels -- still feels my heart. a lot of sadness and pain and that is something that is never going to go away. >> duty of a butterfly landing on a flower at the

memorial belies the growing anger over the first responders and others who are growing sick. the centers for disease control says 8,000 have been diagnosed with 9/11 related cancers, 1700 people have so far died from that. shep, for some, 9/11 comes every day. back to you. >> shepard: eric shawn live downtown. fox news has now confirmed the united states has identified the remains of two service members, north korea returned decades after they died in the korean war. the "wall street journal" with which this network shares common ownership first reported this today. united states officials say the service members both died nut year 1950. the officials say doctors have tested the remains in about half of the 55 boxes that the north koreans returned to the united states. u.s. officials are responding to a report that russia is the main suspect in the mysterious invisible attack on american diplomats in cuba.

plus, the u.s. sending a warning to the syrian dictator bashar al sad after word that he might launch another chemical attack on his own people. that's coming up on the fox news deck. ways to lose stubborn belly fat.

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>> shepard: rush reports its staging its largest military exercises since the cold war and those exercises include thousands of chinese troops. the two countries forming a strategic partnership russia and china as tensions with the west continue to rise. officials in moscow say 300,000 troops are taking part in the war games more than 3,000 chinese forces are to join them. china's president xi jinping visiting russia for economic forum. he also did a little cooking with the russian president vladimir putin, making pancakes stuffed with caviar and washing them down with

russia vodka. there is word russia is the main subject behind or i should say suspect behind the his tierous attacks on cuba which led to brain injuries. that's according to the reporting by nbc news. several u.s. officials tell fox news that they haven't heard of any many suspect but one said that nobody involved in the investigation would be at all surprised if the russians were responsible. rich edson is following up. is he live at the state department. hey, rich. >> shep, state department officials say they're still unsure about the motive or who or what is to blame for these attacks. though several officials who have been briefed on this investigation say that there is some suspicions surrounding russia because of the technical ability involved in these attacks and also because in the past russian government has harassed american diplomats in other settings. the state department spokesperson heather nauert about to start her briefing here. she was asked about in this morning and in a response said, quote: the investigation is ongoing. we have made no

determination on who or what is responsible for the health attacks. jeanne shaheen has just released a statement she said congress should open an investigation into this. the fbi has been investigating since the start. and officials say that the fbi has been updating lawmakers on the progress of their investigation. the state department says since late 2016 more than two dozen employees those affiliated american embassy in havana have suffered health attacks. some symptoms have included dizziness, hearing loss, cognitive problems, problems with balance, a whole host of issues. the state department also reported that its most recent case had happened in june. that was the first reported case since last august, august of 2017, shep. >> shepard: hey, rich, there are several theories really about the device that might have caused this. >> there are. federal investigators are looking into them as are independent analysts. some of them are that there were two separate listening devices that may have gotten

their signals crossed. another is a malfunction, perhaps in some type of listening device or could be a device that was created to actually harm people. there is former secretary of state rex tillerson as a result of all of this blamed the cuban government for not protecting american diplomats. he, largely reduced the number of staff that was stationed down in havana and that's remained ever since. also a couple of months ago back in may the state department had reported there was a similar incident and similar symptoms for an american employee working in china. this is also a russia and cuba or china and cuba investigation that is ongoing, shep. >> shepard: rich edson at state, thanks. defense secretary james mattis warning the murderous syrian dictator bashar assad don't use chemical weapons on your own people again. secretary mattis says the united states is watching the regime as he futures very closely right now. secretary mattis also

disputed russia's claim that the rebels staged a chemical attack trying to make it look like the government was to blame. that's not what happened. bashar assad did it, he says. yesterday president trump's national security advisor john bolton said the u.s. officials were working with france and the united kingdom to coordinate a response just in case bashar al-assad depose ahead with a chemical attack. john bolton warned the reaction will be stronger than the missile strike launched in the past. our national security correspondent jennifer griffin is following this live at the pentagon. jen? >> shepard, we just spoke to mattis following the 9/11 ceremony. he said the russian bombing of idlib has already begun. he described air operations 245 were aimed at softening up the last pocket of resistance in northwest syria. mattis would not say what the u.s. government would do if syrian president bashar assad again orders the use of chemical weapons adding -- >> he has been warned and the first time around he will have 17% of his air

force airplanes. he has been warned and so we will see if he has wised up. >> the trump administration has twice before carried out airstrikes against the assad regime for its use of chemical weapons. just last week the state department's new point person on syria ambassador jim jeffrey said there is quote lots of evidence that syria is preparing chemical weapons as it prepares to assault idlib. quote, i'm very sure that we have very, very good grounds to be making these warnings. there is lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared. president trump has also tweeted his own warning to syria not to use chemical weapons and to halt the military operation that's likely to result in massive civilian deaths, shep. >> shepard: a lot of specificity here. did they give you particulars on what they're seeing and why it is they are concerned at this moment? >> the u.s. is very concerned, shep, about the situation in idlib because of the potential

humanitarian crisis. millions more refugees could poor into neighboring tucker and nato ally. mattis compared airstrikes home to 3 million people idlib already internally displaced in syria to bomb ago refugee camp. turkey's president appealed to the world to halt the russian iranian backed operation in syria. in a op-ed today in the "wall street journal," quote: the consequences of inaction are im34e7bs. a regime assault would also create serious humanitarian and security risks for turkey. the rest of europe and beyond. they are worried about those refugees flooding into europe. there are pockets of isis and large number of al qaeda-linked fighters in northwest syria. they are mixed in with 3 million syrian civilians. mattis scoffed at russia propaganda efforts to suggest that the rebels had prepared chemical weapons in idlib. he said there is it no evidence of that in fact, it's only the assad regime who has those chemical weapons, shep.

>> shepard: jennifer griffin watching closely for us. this note happening now, the president has just gotten out of a briefing from the federal emergency management agency regarding the coming storm florence. i'm told that the white house press pool will play back the president's comments if there were some at that meeting. and we'll have those for you right after this. ♪ ♪

>> shepard: we're interrupting the commercial break because president trump has met with fema administrator brock long and kirstjen nielsen as hurricane florence moves closer to the east coast. the white house pool is now going to play back the tape from that so let's watch the president. >> okay. thank you very much. i received a briefing from secretary nielsen, administrator long, and my senior staff regarding hurricane florence and other tropical systems that will soon impact the united states and its territories. the safety of american people is my absolute

highest priority. we are sparing no expense. we are totally prepared. we're ready. we're as ready as anybody has ever been. and it looks to me and it looks to all of a lot of very talented people that do this for a living like this is going to be a storm that's going to be a very large one. far larger than we have seen in, perhaps, decades. things can change, but we doubt they will at this stage. this pretty late stage. we doubt they are going to be very, very far off course. the places that are in the way and in the most jeopardy would be virginia, north carolina, south carolina, that area. and, again, they haven't seen anything like what's coming at us in 25, 30 years. maybe ever. it's tremendously big and tremendously wet. tremendous amounts of water.

so, i have spoken with the governors of south carolina, north carolina, virginia. they are prepared, we're prepared, we are working very well in conjunction with the governors. i would like to ask brock long, our administrator who has done so well for us in texas and florida. we have something it could very well be similar to texas in the sense that it's tremendous amounts of water. texas was the one that had, i would say to this point, brock, probably more water than we have ever seen in a storm or a hurricane. and it went out to seconds and thirds. we have never seen anything like it. but, fema as you know did a fantastic job and a fantastic job also in florida. and i would like to ask brock, if you would, to just say a few words to the media as to where it is now. what's going to be happening. and how well prepared we are. >> thank you, mr. president. unfortunately, hurricane florence is setting up to be a devastating event to the

carolinas and potentially virginia as well. so, as you can see, they are forecasting a major land falling storm category 3 or 4 storm at landfall. the biggest hazard that we are worried about is storm surge. that's the primary driver of the evacuations that are underway by the states of north carolina, south carolina, virginia right now. but as this system comes in, and makes landfall during the weekend it's forecast to stall out, lose its strength and steering currency and drop copious amounts of rainfall. unfortunately, the remnants of gordon passed through the mid-atlantic over the weekend and dropped a lot of rain saturating rivers so hurricane florence as it comes in and puts anywhere between 20 and 30 inches more in isolated areas to create a lot of inland flooding. so right now, sir, we are supporting the governors with achieving their life-safety evacuation movement. we're focused on mass care

and sheltering and then we will be focused on helping them to execute their response and recovery goals. >> what are the chances that it veers off coast and the hit won't be so direct? what are the chances of that? >> unfortunately, i believe there is quite a bit of certainty in the track forecast because the forward speed is picking up. it's getting faster and when system does that the track forecast becomes a lot more accurate. i think the expectation needs to be set with the citizens in in area if you have been asked to leave get into an area where the facility can with stand the winds. this has the opportunity of being a very devastating storm. the power is going to be off for weeks. you will be displaced in your home in the coastal areas. and there will be flooding in the inland areas as well. these are going to be statewide events. the hazards will be statewide. >> you wanted to show us this one then? >> this is a 7-day rainfall

graphic. as you can see the pink areas and the purple areas indicate 20 inches. that's mean area rainfall. that's average rainfall amount. you have may see isolated amounts greater into the 30-inch range over virginia. the central portions of virginia and west virginia and these impacts, sir, are going to be through the mid-atlantic, we are coordinating not only with north carolina, south carolina and virginia all the mid-atlantic states into delaware. >> it has been great coordination. i have toll it you the states have been terrific. everybody is working together the governors and all of their representatives have been absolutely fantastic and fema, there is nobody like your people. i mean, what they are doing is incredible. do you have any questions for secretary nielsen or for brock long, please? >> what system do we take from what happened in puerto rico. from puerto rico. >> i think puerto rico was incredibly successful. puerto rico was actually our

toughest one of all of because it's an island so you can't truck things on to it everything is by boat. we move the hospital into puerto rico, military hospital in the form of a ship, you know that and i actually think the governor has been very nice and if you ask the governor he will tell you what a great job. i think probably the hardest we had by far was puerto rico because of the island nature and because i actually think it was one of the best jobs that's ever been done with respect to what this is all about. puerto rico got hit not with one hurricane. but with two. and the problem with puerto rico grid electric hit. it was in very bad shape. it was in bankruptcy. it had no money, it was largely, you know, was largely closed and when the storm hit, they had no electricity, essentially before the storm and when the storm hit that took it out entirely. the job that fema and law

enforcement and everybody did working along with the governor. puerto rico i think was tremendous. puerto rico was unsung success, texas texas a pluses fore. hard to understand. it was very hard thing to do. because of the fact they had no electric. before the storm's hit it was dead as you probably know. so, we have gotten a lot of reacceptivity, a lot of thanks for the job we have done in puerto rico. puerto rico was very important. by the way, speaking of puerto rico, they are going to be affected pretty much pretty soon by something else that's on its way. is that right. >> potentially hurricane isaac is tracking south of the island. but we are -- we had several thousand people inside puerto rico right now working on long-term recovery ha has shifted to the response mode to monitor

as isaac passes to the south. >> we do not want to see hurricane isaac hit puerto rico. that's all we need. but we have a big hurricane out there. and it's sort of skirting along puerto rico and the edge of puerto rico. that would not be good. >> mr. president, how much -- [several talking at the same time] >> how much money do you think you will need for recovery effort for this next hurricane and do you have that. >> we have it currently, obviously these are all unanticipated. we will go to congress. congress will be very generous because we have no choice. this is the united states and whether it's texas or florida or, frankly, if it's virginia because virginia looks like it's very much in the path. maryland, by the way, could be affected very seriously affected just to add. it's a little bit outside of the path. and then, of course, south carolina and north carolina. i think that any amounts of money, whatever it takes, we're going to do. but we are already set up. we have tremendous trucking systems. we have food systems. we have a lot of contractors

waiting but for the most part it's been handled by fema. and, also, we have coordinated locally. we have food for days. we have emergency equipment and generators for many days. we should be in great shape. now, i have also heard it could be 21 and 22 inches. if you can imagine what that is, 22 inches of rain, it is not something that we have had. certainly we have never had this on the east coast. so, but i think we are very well prepared. very well set up, wouldn't you say? >> yeah, i think this storm right here is very similar to hurricane hugo. almost like a combination of hurricane hugo in '8 and hurricane floyd in '99. successful disaster response and recovery is one that's locally executed state managed and federally supported. what fema is doing is prepositioning the federal government's assets to support each one of those governors that are about to be impacted with achieving their response and recovery

goals. that's the way emergency management and disaster response works best. i also think i would like to point out that what we learned last year is that we have got to build a true culture preparedness within our citizens here in america u this is a partnership. and it takes anything from neighbor helping neighbor all the way to the federal government when it comes to correctly responding in recovery. >> [inaudible] >> sure, that's that's a great question. fema doesn't own the power grids in any one of these states. a lookout of them are owned by the private industry. business operation center calls. we are concentrating with the private vendors to make sure that they have strong mutual aid programs in place. we set up incident support bases to help stage power crews coming in from other states. and, largely, it's fema's job to get out of the way to make sure that the private power companies can get into these areas, to set up their grid. we don't own it we don't own it. >> but, unlike puerto rico,

you have very strong power companies. they are very powerful. very well-managed nut sense that they have tremendous overcapacity. they are going to do a great job. they also have made contracts with other power companies that won't be affected and they are going to be coming. in just to answer your question, they will be coming in to the various states that will be affected. they will be coming in very strongly. they are already lining up. they will be here probably for the most part tomorrow or shortly before the storm hits. they will be in great shape. these are really states that have very, very strong power authorities. >> what's your message, mr. president, to people who might not have evacuated yet. >> it's very risky. again, we have never seen anything quite like this on the east coast, at least. and if it turns out to be as bad -- you know, we go out there, you have people that actually go fly through these storms. these are very brave people. but they fly through and from what i'm hearing the

sights they are seeing have not been seen on the east coast before. i would say everybody should get out. you have to listen to your local authorities and whether you are up land or down land. depending on where you are, you have to listen and you have to get out. if they want you to get out because it's going to be impossible to have people get in there, whether it's law enforcement or fema or anybody else once this thing hits. it's going to be really really bad along the coast. okay? anything else? >> do you believe -- rob porter and gary cohn. >> you shouldn't be talking about that right now because it doesn't matter. their statement was excellent. they both set out beautiful which shows the book is a piece of fiction. thank you very much. i think we are very well prepared and thank you very much. appreciate it thank you. appreciate it. >> shepard: there you have it the president with the fema director and kirstjen nielsen as well and his message is a simple one we are as prepared as we can be. if you have got to do your part. if you live there listen to your local officials and get

out. that's what the director said. that's the director of fema said. that's what the governors of north carolina and south carolina have said. that's what the local mayors have said and one of the towns in the target zone for florence is wrightsville, beach, north carolina. bill blair is the mayor there. is he live with us from wrightsville beach. mr. mayor, i have been to your town five or six times for hurricanes. it's always absolutely beautiful. our hope our viewers would come back and visit you but not right now. how are things? >> if you look out here today, it's a nice perfect day here at wrightsville beach. but we know it's going to change here the next 48 hours. we are kind of getting prepared, doing our evacuations. just like the conversation you will have with president trump. we know we need to get people off the island. we have had the experience of a lot of hurricanes here, unfortunately. we are actually pretty good at it. >> shepard: yeah. >> so we are used to preparing. we are pretty prepared here. >> shepard: i remember hugo in 1989, i'm almost sad to

admit. i remember the salties saying i'm not going anywhere. up to hugo we got up to 99. and when floyd came through there and by then people had said yeah, i have got to get out. is that the thinking now or has it been so long that people have forgotten what can happen. >> no, no. people here remember floyd. they remember hugo. you know, hugo originally was forecast to actually come to wilmington and took a hard turn into the charleston, area. we had fran before that and just a number of hurricanes that i would say that this hurricane has a unusual track it usually comes from a more southerly location. it's a little different than what we are used to seeing and preparing for. given the forecast for the inland rains, i think and the slowdown of the hurricane, it is just a different fo storm for us. >> shepard: you have had more time than what you offensive do when they come skirting up that coast. i figure people are watching and listening. is there a message for people not just your town

but up and down the coast about what happens in the tropical storm force winds come and what kind of rescues they may be able to expect? >> if you are still on the island, with the mandatory evacuation you need to get out there won'ten power or services. as a matter of fact, the town staff has hunkered down off the island in a secure location so after the storm we can kind of come back and assess all the damage but the point is staying at wrightsville beach as great as of a place it is without power and services it can be a pretty miserable existence and it's just not safe. >> what kind of word are you getting on the highways? we have heard that the carolinas as close to perfect as they are, the evac situation is not good because there are some people there now. is it overcrowded? is it moving will? what's the understanding? >> being after labor day the

crowds here are post labor day crowds. they weren't too bad. i haven't heard of any i-40 west traffic problems to this point i can tell you so far the traffic flow off the island has been pretty manage being. just thought a lot of problems so far. i guess it's because people are used to picking up and leaving and taking a rest until somewhere else until this is over. >> shepard: that's the case my mom god rest her soul used to have things in plastic bins in destin, florida when they said it was time to go she would put it in the back of the car and off she would go. i think she did it 18 times. >> that's right. and i would say that this is -- i have been here a long time. and i have seen many more houses boarded up for this storm than in the past, which i think this one has got everybody's attention. >> shepard: i'm glad to hear it. bill blair mayor of britsville beach, hope people come to visit you but not today. thank you so much. >> take it easy.

>> shepard: the message is clear from the president and the governors it's simple if you are in cure beach or carolina beach or sea breeze or silver lake oz done or hampton on top sail beach or surf point or surf city or holly ridge, if you are watching us from emerald aisle all up to atlantic beach in moorehead or anywhere inland have you got to go. i know because i heard the mayor say it and governor say it heard the fema say it and the president of the united states say it you've got to go because if you stay behind, then people have got to come rescue you. maybe the storm will go away. but, if it doesn't you don't want to be the one to put everyone else in danger. get up like my momma, take the plastic bins put them in the back of the wagon and get on out while the getting is good before we have to find out if the governor and the president and the national hurricane center are right about what florence is about to do.

>> shepard: fox urgent next and word that the pope is about to take some action on the sex abuse scandal right here in the united states. brand new details are next.

>> shepard: fox urgent pope francis set to meet at the vatican top church officials with the united states on thursday about sexual abuse and coverup accusations. pope francis removed cardinal theodore mccharacter in july after an accusation that he groped a teenager. last month the vatican's former ambassador to the united states wrote a letter saying officials knew of

other credible accusations of sexual misconduct years before that and all of this comes as the vatican and the catholic church respond to a damning report from a grand jury in pennsylvania. hundreds of people accused in that case. as we remember the attacks of 9/11, it's important not to forget that those horrific events are still claiming new victims and killing people 17 years later. thousands are sick with cancer and other diseases. from people who ran into collapsing twin towers risking their lives to save others. to those who worked and went to school in the area. doctors say they don't expect the situation to get any better any time soon. in fact, many of those illnesses take years to develop. so lots of people are just starting to get sick right now. others could get sick in the months and years ahead. there are seller funds in -- sel funds in place to help people get the treatment they need. that money is limited. organizers fear with more people getting sick it may soon run out of money. the 9/11 victim compensation

fund has already paid more than half of the $7.3 billion that the feds have allotted to help the survivors. the program is set to expire in two years. for the fund to be renewed and expanded, congress has to act. getting them to do so the last time around was not easy. so, if you believe it's imperative that we americans pay for the care of those who developed illnesses and deadly cancers while removing the ruins of the world trade centered, or while studying at schools in the zone, or while working in offices nearby, after our government told them that toxic air was safe to breathe, you could choose to contact those you elected to serve you and tell them to make sure our heroes get help. that the victims get care, that nobody is forgotten. as the years roll by since that fateful september morn when everything changed. [bell tolls]

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whenever they need it. this is our era. this is america's energy era. nextera energy. ♪ >> hurricane florence will affect each and every one of you. >> this is a serious storm. >> florence is the real deal. >> this storm is a monster. >> as to weather worsens your risk goes up and you put yourself as well as us at risk. >> worse natural disaster in history for the carolinas. >> we are in a very deadly and important game of chess with hurricane florence. >> don't bet your life on riding out a monster. >> neil: you've been warned. you are in the path of florence. you better get moving. welcome, everybody, i'm neil cavuto. man o man, folks boarding up as hurricane florence revs